Origin ARS 6 Page 17

  ***

  A few hours passed while Scott got to know Amaryllis. Rhea had left the scene after a few minutes due to the system restrictions on multiple active accounts. The character avatars tended to act in sync instead of independently, even though the gods were more than capable of splitting their consciousness into multiple versions of themselves.

  Amaryllis possessed several interesting skills that had nothing to do with making Scott uncomfortable in the bedroom. Each of the notable abilities that she possessed, were magical in nature and focused on metal refinement.

  The red haired goddess in demon form held up a piece of rusty metal. She ran her hand over it several times. Each time she did so, a little rust fell away.

  "It's a time-consuming process since my skill-level is still so low. But we seem to be getting somewhere now," said Amaryllis.

  Scott sat on a nearby fallen log and watched her work. He loved Origin, and adored her Rhea form. Honestly, that form was the one he thought of when he thought of her. The demoness in front of him, however, looked like sex on wheels. It was a bizarre thing to see, like a devout nun suddenly deciding to dance at a strip club. Was it possible to picture it? Yes. Did it seem likely? No. At least it was not likely outside of a particularly good porn script.

  Amaryllis pouted at the slip of metal then sighed. "This is as good as it can get. I'll have to start combining everything as best I can now."

  Scott nodded slowly, a lump forming in his throat every time his fiancé moved. It was hard to think, to do anything but nod and hope she approved.

  She glanced at him then offered a warm smile. In her current guise, however, that smile caused all manner of natural reactions within her husband to be. Scott coughed into his hand then looked away, strangely embarrassed. He spent intimate time with Rhea frequently once they finally realized what they meant to each other, but this was different.

  Amaryllis lashed her tail provocatively then flashed a hint of a fanged smile. "Do you miss your cute, innocent, little elf maiden?"

  "You're you, no matter what you look like," said Scott with as much conviction as he could manage in the situation.

  "Really? That's," –She leaned back then stretched languidly like a cat, her body moving in ways that were far too interesting for any normal man to withstand. She glanced at him out of one eye while keeping the other closed— "quite sweet of you."

  "You're doing this to me on purpose," said Scott, the knuckles of his fingers had turned white while he gripped the petrified log he used as a seat. He was trying his best not to rush over to the obscenely erotic creature that his fiancé had become.

  She laughed warmly, the dulcet tones caused Scott's manhood to stir in the manliest of ways. "Of course I am, you silly boy. It's what I am supposed to do in this form."

  Amaryllis finished up with what she was doing and then chanted a series of strange words that made the very air blister. A flame rose up from the ground, along with a floating stone cauldron that hovered above the flame without any visible support.

  The red haired she-demon continued to put salvaged bits of metal into the cauldron until it was half full, then rubbed her hands together to clean them off. She sauntered saucily over to Scott then sat down beside him, once she was done.

  Scott glanced at her then looked away a little. It was weird to see Rhea in a different body, even if they had a lot of similarities. She still looked a great deal like herself in the face and form, but the way she acted and dressed was so far removed from the norm that it was freaky.

  Amaryllis hummed a merry tune for a moment then glanced to the side. She made a loud yawning sound then casually stretched one arm around Scott's shoulder.

  "I'm conflicted," said Scott, after she performed the same action with her tail. Said tail lightly tugged at him.

  "Mortals often are, sweet one," said Amaryllis in a light tone.

  Scott looked down then said, "Is it cheating if your wife is currently inhabiting another body?"

  "Didn't stop us on Earth," she said without missing a beat.

  "Good point," said Scott before he lost the last of his resolve. He flung himself sideways and knocked Amaryllis to the ground.

  The demoness laughed uproariously as Scott tried to do things with her, any of the things his overstimulated brain could think to do. "What are you doing?"

  "I don't know, but I'm doing it!" cried Scott as his body received mixed signals that complicated the process. There was so much to do, and so little to help him focus on which way to proceed. He literally wanted to do everything sexy with her, but his body tried to do it all at once. The end result was a ridiculous flailing about with his hands that eventually led to something sexy happening.

  The metal in the cauldron began to bubble and melt, even as the overly excited sorcerer did the same. They laughed and did their best to make use of their time while they waited for the cauldron to do its thing.

  By the time the metal had melted completely Amaryllis was as naked as the day her character would have been born, and Scott had dozens of hickeys and sets of lip prints all across his face and chest. He panted heavily and reached for her, but she merely laughed and span away. "Now, now, I have some more cooking to do..." She admonished him with a sexy wave of her finger and a tilt of her hips.

  She summoned out an oversized crystalline ladle and stirred the metal a bit. The heat of the fire and the molten materials did not cause her problems in the slightest. She stirred the cauldron slowly then looked up at Scott. Her expression was sweet, yet enticing. "I should cook for you more often."

  Scott sat up then smiled at her. "I'd love that."

  Amaryllis lashed her tail from side to side. A thoughtful look was followed by a simple question. "Scott... Do you really like Rhea more than me?"

  "I like you, period. You said this was a side of you, but so is Rhea. How can I like one more than the other?"

  Amaryllis blinked then looked down at her cauldron. Strangely, her cheeks became a bit flush. "You should know. It's not common that a man can make a demoness blush."

  This was more like the Rhea that he knew. Scott smiled at her softly. "I don't want to make a demoness blush. I just want to be with you."

  "Fu. Fu. Fu..," said the demoness in a merry tone.

  Scott blinked then snorted out a laugh. Amaryllis lifted out her ladle and pointed it at him. "Just what's so funny, you tasty little mortal?"

  "Nothing really. I just realized that right now you're the sort of girl who actually annunciates a dark sexy laugh," said Scott before he tilted his head down and said, "Fu. Fu. Fu."

  "Does the mortal think that he can tease me?" she asked him before shifting her weight from one side to the other and offering him a provocative pose.

  Scott stood up then placed his hands on his hips then flexed his chest. "Yes, yes he does."

  Amaryllis snorted at him then tried to hold back a laugh since she had to stir her cauldron a little more. "S-silly mortal," she said, still fighting the laugh.

  The demoness picked up a few more pieces of metal and tossed them into the cauldron. She stirred the metal soup for a moment then put in a few more pieces. She continued that process until the cauldron was half-full of metal once more.

  "It won't be long now," she said before strolling back over to Scott. She stood in front of him with her hands on her hips and her lips slightly parted. "However will we pass the time?"

  "You're really getting into this aren't you?" asked Scott before slipping his hands down to lightly grip her hips.

  She kissed him softly, her tail curling around his left leg. "Do you disapprove?"

  Scott held her close then smiled at her warmly. "Are you enjoying yourself?"

  Amaryllis snuggled against him then kissed him once more. "It is nice, actually. I feel more confident in this form."

  "I didn't know Rhea lacked confidence," said Scott thoughtfully.

  Her leg rose up and she softly caressed his hip with her thigh. "Just, Rhea's too much like the real me.
Sometimes it's hard to... you know."

  Scott kissed her softly then picked her up and carried her over to his log seat. She sat on his lap in a casual manner. "Do I tease her too much?" he asked softly.

  "Sometimes..," said Amaryllis.

  He leaned forward and their foreheads pressed together. He lightly stroked her cheek and said, "Should I apologize? I like teasing her..."

  "Do you?" asked Amaryllis, her tail lashing lightly. "Why?"

  "She's such a sweet person, I can't help but make her blush," said Scott, before kissing Amaryllis on the side of the neck.

  She made a soft, pleased, noise and then stroked the back of his head. "Don't worry about making her blush. She's just not used to doing things like we are now..."

  "Oh?" asked Scott.

  Amaryllis shook her head then offered him a teasing pout. "She's never even had a boyfriend, you know... She's not sure she knows how to keep him happy, and tends to get nervous when this sort of thing comes up."

  "I should let her know that just having her beside me makes me happy," said Scott softly, before he kissed her on the chin.

  "I'm sure she would like that," said Amaryllis, her face becoming slightly flush in the process. "She worries a lot, especially about how close you are with Ero..."

  Scott gripped Amaryllis' hips and pulled her closer. "She won't talk to me about that much."

  "She can't. Every time she starts to do so, she becomes worried that you'll tell her that you love Ero more than her."

  "Oh," said Scott. He looked into amaryllis' eyes and saw a hint of concern. The roleplay session had ended. He was seeing Origin in her eyes right now.

  They looked into each other's eyes for a moment before Scott spoke again. "I should tell her that she has a place in my heart, a beautiful place that no one else can fill."

  He ran his fingers down her cheek then took a breath. "I do love Ero. But she fills a different place in my heart, one just for her. Rhea's place? No one else can fill it," said Scott.

  The demoness looked into his eyes for a moment. Scott could see her eyes tear up slightly. An internal conflict seemed to be occurring behind those shimmering eyes.

  "What about me?" asked Amaryllis, as Origin slipped back into character. She kissed his lips softly, and then a slight hint of a blush appeared on her cheeks once more.

  She lashed her tail while looking deeply into his eyes, "Don't I have a beautiful place to fill?"

  Scott grinned as he pulled her closer. "I'll say you do."

  They both laughed then, though Amaryllis' laughter was less sensual than she had shown previously. If anything, there was an undertone of relief.

  He noticed something interesting then spoke again. "I can see the steam rising."

  She kissed him softly on the nose. "If you're that hot, you should drink some water."

  "Well, the thirst is certainly real," he said with a smile, before pointing to the molten metal, "but I meant your cauldron."

  Amaryllis blinked then looked over to her cauldron. She made a cute noise then hopped off of Scott's lap. "Metal's ready."

  She sashayed her way over to the cauldron then began to stir the contents. "We'll have to use this before we can melt any more of it."

  "What are you planning with that, anyway?" asked Scott. Neither Rhea, nor Amaryllis, had been entirely clear on what melting the metal down would do for them.

  "Simple! Using this metal, we can magically infuse some of the remaining bits and pieces to make them worth a lot more. We can also fix the leg casing so that it can be used for power armor."

  "Hmm, I already knew that... Why did I forget?" asked Scott. He took in the sight of Amaryllis stirring the cauldron then blinked. His mind slowly began to go blank from the strange sensuality of her movements. However, he managed to shake the metal fog away after a moment. "Oh, that's why?"

  Amaryllis laughed softly at his antics then lightly slid a finger down the ladle. "See something you like, mortal?"

  "Nah," said Scott.

  She leaned back and pouted at him. "Is that so?"

  "I see something I love," said Scott lightly.

  Her left eyebrow rose into the air. She took her ladle out and pointed it at him. "You better be careful, buster. Keep talking like that, and you'll have to show me that beautiful place you mentioned."

  Scott looked at her for a moment then smiled broadly. "I really like today."

  She murmured a little then slowly stirred her cauldron once more. Amaryllis looked up at Scott, a soft smile on her lips. He was right. Today had been fun.

  ***

  Evening had come upon the world, like a dark shroud that blots out the light of the life-giving sun. Evil was on the prowl, sexy evil. "Found you!"

  Amaryllis hopped out of her hiding place and whirled to the side. Several bats made of magical energy erupted outward from where she stood previously. They flew forward and circled the hapless mechanical construct, thoroughly confusing its sensory capacity.

  The lamp post was set atop a continuous track system, the sort of thing that a tank might use. Other than this strange adaptation there was nothing to make it seem particularly special. It flailed its broken light around in an attempt to swat the bats, and was so thoroughly distracted in the process that Scott was able to rush in and unleash a small amount of lightning into its frame.

  The busted lamp sparked wildly, showing the way that it had broken in the first place. Scott leapt away and hellfire flared up all around it. The extreme temperature caused the metal to melt slightly.

  The machine monster fell not long after that series of attacks. Without its high-power heat lamp, it possessed little damage potential.

  Scott and the crew set about looting the monster after that. It was not long before Amaryllis cried out in excitement. "Yes! We've done it."

  "What have we done now?" asked Scott curiously. Herbert ran over to see what she was talking about as well. He stayed out of the principle fighting right now, as he was much more useful as an enemy lure and a support member at the moment. Still, he liked to see what the loot was after each fight.

  "I can fix some of these parts, and we could probably get any decent weaponsmith to form them together. Also, these tracks will fit the frame we found!" said Amaryllis excitedly. "If we sell off most of the superior scrap we have, we can probably scrape up enough money to make it happen."

  "Sweet!" exclaimed Scott. "So, we'll finally be able to make it happen?"

  "Sure. Let me get to work," said Amaryllis. She immediately called up her hell cauldron and started her work. Scott and Herbert went back to looting the machine monster. Since Amaryllis was brought into the picture, not a single part had been wasted. The random junk pieces were made into superior grade materials through her magical metal working, and they were able to hunt down more monsters than before due to the cart. In short, they were looking at a serious haul this time.

  As usual, there were a few servo-motors and a machine core to be looted. The wiring was pulled to the side, as copper, silver, and occasional tiny bits of gold were used. None of the monsters had platinum parts in this area, but someday they might return to fight the monsters downtown. They would have higher grade parts with platinum and gold as more common elements.

  Scott separated the materials while Amaryllis worked the cauldron. She always started with the least valuable materials, as they were the most numerous. Once the basic steel was melted down, she conjured up metal molds. The steel was poured into the molds and rapidly turned into steel ingots.

  "This is the fun part, huh?" asked Scott as he sat down on the dirt. There were only a few places around to hide as it was a flat area, but none of them was a suitable place to sit.

  Amaryllis grinned at him then ran her hand above two of the ingots. They began to glow briefly then magical energy crackled between them. The ingots slowly drew together and formed a single ingot.

  "What do you call that again?" asked Scott.

  "Recombinant Metal Synergy," said Amaryllis. "It'
s one of the basic types of synergy, a common one for those who work with metal."

  "There's more than one type?" he asked, curious about this fascinating power.

  She combined another set of ingots then nodded. "Yes, there used to be only one synergy skill, but it was too broken to be allowed to continue in that form. So, we separated it into a few hundred lesser skill-sets."

  "Broken, how?" Scott watched as Amaryllis combined the two new ingots into yet another.

  Amaryllis gasped in delight as the new ingot shifted hue during mid-synergy. "Great! We got another one."

  "Dark steel?" asked Scott.

  "Yes, dark steel. I can't make ebon steel, yet, or I'd try to combine this with the other ingot," said Amaryllis. She carefully set the much more valuable bit of steel to the side then set about combining more regular steel ingots.

  While she worked with the metal, she continued to speak about synergy. "As far as the synergy skill, it could basically combine almost anything together. A handful of grass and a piece of leather might create a piece of armor, for instance."

  "Sounds like a great skill!" exclaimed Scott. He'd love something like that.

  "Yeah, it was," she said, after finishing the next ingot.

  She looked at him before continuing, "It was too great. There was no need for any other crafting skill. Who needs to learn smithing, or crafting, when you can simply combine two items and keep combining until the system popped out something amazing?"

  "So, you nerfed it?" asked Scott.

  "Some players still claim we did. We didn't, though," said Amaryllis before she started work on another set of ingots. "We broke the skill up into different skill-sets. Someone who wanted to be a synergistic weaponsmith could still gain all the necessary skills. They just had to learn more than one."

  "I see." Scott sighed softly. "It would have been nice to have that skill."

  Amaryllis smiled at him. "Maybe someday. A lot of indie game companies that use the OEC GPL basic world engine leave it intact at first."

  "They do? Isn't it unbalanced, though?" asked Scott.